Iraq September oil exports rise to 1.52 million barrels per day

Iraq exported a total of 1.52 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in September, up 30,000 bpd from August, shipping sources said on Monday.
The rise was due to increased exports from the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan, the destination for crude from Iraq's northern oilfields.
Exports from Ceyhan in September totalled 3.9 million barrels, up from around 650,000 barrels in August.
Around 41.8 million barrels of crude were exported from the southern Basra and Khor al-Amaya terminals in September, down from 45.4 million barrels in August.
Spanish refiner Cepsa and major BP each lifted cargoes of around 1 million barrels from Ceyhan in early September. French major Total lifted another cargo of 600,000 barrels, traders said.
State oil marketer SOMO sold that crude in a sale tender in August.
SOMO also shipped 1.3 million barrels to Turkish refiner Tupras, traders said. Tupras takes the crude via direct pipeline from Ceyhan to its 113,000 barrels per day Kerikkale refinery.
Shippers said little crude had come through the line in the last month, adding storage at Ceyhan stood at 200,000 to 300,000 barrels.
If the flow does not recover, then October Iraqi exports would likely be lower than September, shippers said.
Crude sales from Ceyhan have been irregular due to sporadic exports from Iraq's northern fields.
Sabotage attacks on the export pipeline in Iraq have limited the flow of oil to Turkey. The pipeline has mostly been idle since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.